Animal-trap.



H. M. VOTER.

ANIMAL TRAP. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1909. V 936,836, 4 I PatentedOct. 12,1909.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

flu-1.5

A 75 9 flf Snoentoz A Z f w 52 6, 50 Z8 1,. m, mu

attorney H. M. VOTER.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 9, 1909.

936,836. Patentd oat. 12,1909.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H arwenfoz agv W attouwq HARRY M. VOTER, 0F BOWDON, NORTH DAKOTA.

ANIMAL-TRAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12. 1909.

Application filed March 9, 1909. Serial No. 482,252.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY M. VOTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bowdon, in the county of Tells and State of North Dakota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Animal-Traps, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in animal traps.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive trapinto which a rat or other animal may easily enter and from which escapewill be practically impossible.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of thenovel features of construction and the combination and ar rangement ofparts hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of theimproved trap; Fig. 2 is a vertical front to rear sectional view; Fig. 3is a horizontal section with parts broken away; Fig. 4 is a detailvertical section taken on the plane indicated by the line 1-4L in Fig.3; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective of one of the pivoted doors; and Fig.6 is a detail bottom plan view of the central portion of the base of thetrap.

The improved trap comprises a base 1 for supporting a wire housing 2which is divided by a horizontal partition 3 into lower and upperchambers or compartments 5, 6. The open housing 2 of the trap ispreferably of rectangular shape, as shown, and consists of a framehaving four corner posts 7 rising from the base 1 and united by upperconnecting bars 8. The top of the frame 2 and the four sides of theupper compartment 6 may be covered with woven wire or a wire grating 9of any form and construction which will not permit the animals to escapeafter they have been caught. However, to

permit the animals to be removed from the.

upper compartment 6, a suitable open portion is formed in the front wallof the same and closed by a wire door 10 hinged, as shown at 1 1, andalso provided with a suitable fastening 12.

The lower compartment 5 of the trap has on its four sides inwardlyswinging trap doors 13 and at its four corners rigid open work portions14 which close the space between the endmost doors 13 on adjacent sidesof the trap. Each of the corner structures 14 consists of a downwardlyand inwardly inclined rod 15 extending from one of the corners of thehorizontal partition 3 to the base 1, and upwardly and outwardlyinclined wires 16 which extend from the rod 15 to the side walls of thetrap, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. A plurality of the pivoted orhinged doors 13 is arranged on each side of the trap and each of saiddoors is preferably formed from a single piece of wire by coiling itscentral portion, as shown at 17, to provide a pivot eye and having itsends 18 disposed in spaced parallel relation and pointed, as shown at19. The pivot eyes 17 of the several doors 13 are rotatable uponhorizontal pivot rods or wires 20 stretched from cornerpost to cornerpost at a point slightly below the horizontal partition 3 and the endsor arms 18 of the wire doors are of such length that they inclinedownwardly and inwardly from the pivots 20 and have their points 19resting upon the base 1. The adjacent doors 13 on each side of the trapare spaced apart by wire coils 21 so that all of the parts 18 will bedisposed at substantially the same distance apart. By constructing thetrap doors 13 in this manner, it will be seen that a rat or other animalmay readily lift one or more of said doors and enter the lowercompartment 5 of the trap, and that the instant the animal passesbeneath such door or doors they will drop by gravity to closed position.Owing to the pointed ends 19 of the door members 18, it will be seenthat the animal will be impeded by such points the instant it attemptsto pass beneath the doors and out of the com partment 5.

The upper compartment 6 is provided for the purpose of receiving theanimals caught in the lower compartment 5 and to prevent their return tothe latter. To permit the animals to enter the compartment 6, openings22 are formed in the partition 3, which latter is preferably made ofsheet metal. Said openings 22 are preferably arranged adjacent to thefour corners of the partition so that the animals in the lowercompartment may readily climb up the angular inclined corner structures14 and pass through the openings 22 into the upper compartment. For thepurpose of preventing the return of the'animals to the lowercompartment, trap doors 23 are provided for the openings 22. Said doors23 are formed from single pieces of wire similar to the doors 13 shownin Fig. 5,

and two sets or series of them are arranged over each of the openings22. The pivot collars of these doors 23 hang from a horizontal pivot pinor rod 24 so that the doors of the two series incline downwardly andoutwardly in opposite directions, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4. Thepivots 24 for the doors 28 are supported in upright brackets 25 formedpreferably by bending upwardly portions of the metal which are removedfrom the partition 3 to form the openings To prevent the doors fromswinging from one side of the openings 22 over upon the other side ofthe same, horizontal guard rods 26 are provided above the inner portions.of the doors of each series.

Said guards 26 have their ends bent around the brackets 25 and formedwith eyes 27 to receive the pivot pins 24, whereby they are retainedupon the brackets 26 and also serve to brace the same.

The bait used to lure the animals into the trap is placed in the centerof the lower compartment 5 through a central opening 28 in the base 1.To prevent the bait from being eaten up by the first animal entering thetrap, a woven wire guard or shield 29 is arranged over the top of theopening 28. Said guard 29 is of substantially semispher ical form andhas a surrounding flange secured to the top of the base 1. To close thebottom of the opening 28, a plate 30 is pivoted at 31 in a recess 32formed in the under face of the base, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 6of the drawings.

The operation of the invention will be readily understood from theforegoing descriptlon taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, and it is, therefore, thought that further explanation isunnecessary.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. An animal trap comprising upper and lower compartments separated by ahorizontal partition, the upper compartment having angularly disposedsides and the partition having openings adjacent to the corners of saidupper compartment, trap doors closing the several sides of the lowercompartment, downwardly and inwardly inclined, angular corner structuresclosing the corners of the lower compartment between the ends of theseveral. trap doors, said angular corner structures being disposedadjacent to the openings in the partition, whereby animals may climb upthe corner structures and through the openings in the partition and intothe upper compartment and means for preventing the return of the animalsfrom the upper to the lower compartment.

2. An animal trap comprising a base, an open frame consisting of cornerposts rising from the base and united by upper connecting bars, ahorizontal partition arranged upon said posts and spaced from the baseto provide upper and lower compartments, a covering over the upperportion of the frame to close the upper compartment, said partitionbeing formed adjacent its corners with openings, trap doors closing thelast mentioned openings to prevent the return of animals from the upperto the lower compartment, trap doors closing the several sides of thelower compartment and angular downwardly inclined corner structuresclosing the corners of the lower compartment between the trap doors ofthe several sides of the same.

3. An animal trap comprising a horizontal plate formed with an opening,means for supporting and inclosing said plate, upright brackets arrangedon opposite sides of said opening and apertured, a horizontal pivot rodarranged in the apertures of said brackets and disposed centrally oversaid opening in the plate, oppositely and downwardly swinging trap doorshung from said pivot rods and having pointed lower ends adapted to reston said plate, the ends of said pivot rod projecting beyond the outerfaces of said brackets, and horizontally extending stop rods arrangedacross said brackets above the doors and having their ends bent aroundand attached to the projecting ends of said pivot rod to retain thelatter in the brackets to strengthen said brackets.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

HARRY M. VOTER.

lVitnesses HENRY F. KoNIoHEK, A. E. Mon'roN.

